«اِلْمِتْغَطِّي بُهْ عِرْيَانْ»

The image is of someone who tries to shelter under another person the way one pulls a cover over the body, yet ends up exposed as if wearing nothing. Trusting that person brings no real protection, and the dependent party is left as vulnerable as before.

Applied to people, the saying brands someone as a false refuge: a person who lets others rely on them but gives nothing back when needed. It stresses that dependence on such a figure leads to loss, abandonment, or disappointment for whoever seeks their help.

Use it to warn someone against counting on a particular person for support, or to comment bitterly after such a person has failed those who leaned on them. It faults the unreliable patron, not the truster, and can sound insulting if aimed at someone present.